Excess Moisture Slows Wheat Harvest

谷物是降低机汇ernight with soybeans leading the complex to the downside with a 5-cent drop in the night session. Corn gave up 3 cents a bushel while wheat was fractionally lower.

Beans continue to find it difficult to trade for an extended time above $9.40 basis the new-crop November contract. After trading as low as $8.97 early in the week, the market bolted higher on flooding concerns and planting delays but over the past two sessions that bullish rally has grown tame. As Tropical Storm Bill’s impact reaches the Ohio Valley, rainfall totals are not expected to be as large as once feared. In other news, Argentina’s Ag Ministry bumped their old-crop soybean forecast to 61 MMT from its previous estimate of 60 MMT.

In wheat, harvest progress continues to be slowed in the Southern Plains due to excess moisture. U.S. HRW wheat harvest summary released on Friday by Plains Grains, a company that tracks wheat quality based in Oklahoma, reports Texas harvest is 49 percent complete and Oklahoma wheat is 41 percent done. In export news, a South Korean flour mill bought 73,000 MT of US wheat overnight.

For corn, weather forecasting firm Planalytics released their latest US yield forecast which they now peg at 166.2 bushels per acre, up from their previous forecast two weeks ago which came in at 164.1. Flooding halted barge traffic on the Illinois River. Traders said the disruptions would likely have a limited impact on grain trading because they will probably be over before the end of the month, when traders can begin delivering crops against futures contracts. The Illinois River is forecast to crest at many locations by early next week, according to the National Weather Service.

—Cody Bills